Thread cleaner for textile machines



Feb. 18, 1941. DURAFFOURG 4 I THREAD CLEANER FOR TEXTILE MACHINES Filed March 2, 1959 7, E ,{3 l T w T ,Z 5"? v7 E /6 i Patented Feb. 18, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in yarn or thread cleaning devices such as are used upon coning machines.

At'the present time there are employed on coning machines, that is, machines upon which thread or yarn is Wound onto spindles to form cones, cleaning or stripping devices for the thread which comprise a metal plate in which is formed a slot of substantially the same width as the thread being handled and through which the thread passes so that it may be thoroughly cleaned or stripped of undesirable material before it is wound on the cone. These slotted plates are removable and have to be changed when threads or yarns of different weight are being wound and in addition to this, these plates frequently have to be discarded for new ones due to the fact that the slots become worn so that the clearance is not constant from one end of the slot to the other and, therefore, an uneven cleaning of the thread results, particularly when rayon thread is bein coned'as the cleaner device operates upon such thread" to remove oil therefrom and when the slot of'the cleanerbecomes unevenly worn, the

" drawn for cleaning, such blades, because of their high resistance to wear, maintaining a thread slot ofconstant or unvarying width from end to end and, therefore, giving to the cleaner a working life greatly'in excess of the period of usefulnesswhich'is'had by cleaners of the type at present employed Another object of the invention is to. provide a cleaner of the above described character which employs a pair of adjustably' held cleaner blades formed of a material having high resistance to wear, thus providing a device which may be em.-

ployed for threads or yarns of all sizes and, therefore, avoiding the necessity of having to change the cleaner with a change of thread or 'yarn as is necesary at the present time where the cleaners have slots of fixed width.

Theinvention has for a further object to provide in a device of the character described employing adjustable cleaner blades, a novel means 'ofseeming such blades in working position whereby a firm holding pressure of the securing means therefor is assured at all times, thereby avoiding any possibility of the blades getting'out of adjustment.

Still another objectof the invention is to provide in a thread cleaner employing adjustable blades having high wear resisting qualities; an improved edge formation for such blades whereby the maximum of cleaning action is attained without creating any such rubbing or scraping action upon the thread as would result in damaging the same.

The invention will be best understood from. a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification, with the understanding, however, that the invention is not to be confined to any strict conformity with the showing of the drawing but may be changed or modified so long as such changes or modifications mark no material departure from. the salient features of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation of the thread stripper and cleaner embodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a view in edge elevation of the slotted. plate body per se.

Fig. 4 is a detailed sectional view upon an enlarged scale illustrating the edge formation of the stripper blades.

Referring now more particularly to the draw' ing, the numeral I designates the upper portion of the fixed bracket which is carried upon a coning machine and to which is secured the cleaner or scraper for the thread. This bracket forms a standard part of the machine and one face thereof is cut out or recessed, as indicated at 2, and through the wall of the bracket in this recessed portion there is formed the vertically extending opening 3. Below the opening 3 is a threaded opening 4 for the reception of a securing screw 5 by means of which the cleaner plate is held in position in the recess 2. As shown in Fig. 2, the cut out portion 3 is of a width less than the recess 2, so that there are formed the side flanges 6 against which the upper part of the cleaner plate bears.

The thread stripper and cleaner embodying the present invention is indicated as a Whole by the numeral 1 and comprises an elongated fiat plate 8 which is of a width to snugly position within the recess 2 and which has formed therethrough adjacent one end the opening 9 for the passage of the securing screw 5. Directly above the opening 9 is an opening or hole II] which leads into a relatively wide longitudinally extending slot II and the upper end of this slot merges into the wide V-notch l2 which is formed in the upper end of the plate.

In cleaners of the type at present employed, the slot H is made to conform in width to the diameter of the thread to be cleaned and this thread is drawn through such slot and contacts with the edges thereof and these edges clean off oil or other material adhering to the thread. In the present structure the slot I l is made of a width greatly in excess of the largest thread which would pass through the cleaner. The lower ends of the edges of the slot H are rounded, as indicated at I3, and the edges of the thread hole II] are beveled or rounded off, as indicated at M, so that no sharp edges are present to damage the material.

The front face of the plate 8 has formed transversely thereof at each side of the slot l I and between the ends of the same, the recesses l5, and in the central part of each recess is a threaded screw hole l6.

Formed for placement in each recess [5 is a blade holding plate ll which has formed longitudinally of one face adjacent one longitudinal edge, a recess l 8 which provides a holding tongue 19 along that longitudinal edge. The recess [8 of each holding plate is of greater depth at its inner side than at the free edge of the tongue It, so that the inner face of the tongue slopes slightly with respect to the front face of the plate, thus making the inner portion of the tongue slightly thinner, as indicated at 20, than the outer or free edge portion. This thinner inner portion of the tongue allows a certain resilient action of the tongue when it is pressed upon a cleaner blade, as hereinafter described.

Adapted for positioning in the recesses l5 are the elongated relatively narrow fiat cleaner blades 2i. These blades are formed of a suitable material having a high resistance to wear such as precious or semi-precious stone either of natural or synthetic origin or a metal which would have the same high resistance to wear. The plates I? are, of course, placed in the recesses with the tongues IQ thereof in opposed relation and spaced from the main plate 8 and the blades 2| are disposed between the tongues l9 and the main plate, each blade overlying a portion of the slot H. Each of the holding plates is provided with a screw opening 22 which is of materially greater diameter than that of the screw holes l6 and the holding plates are maintained with the blades in the proper adjusted position by securing screws 23 which pass freely through the openings 22 of the holding plates and have threaded engagement in the holes l6 of the main plate. It will thus be seen that a certain latitude of adjustment is provided for the holding plates and the blades by this provision of the holes 22 of larger diameter than the screws 23, and it will also be readily apparent that by reason of the formation of the holding plate flanges l9 with the undercut faces whereby there is formed the thinner inner portion 2!], when the holding plates are drawn in toward the main plate by the screws 23, a certain flexing of the holding plate flange [9 will occur so that this flange will maintain a constant resilient pressure against the underlying cleaner blade 21. By this means, any slight variation in the thickness of the cleaner blades will not affect the holding action of the plates I8 as might be the case if the holding plate flanges I9 had their inner faces parallel with the front faces of the holding plates.

It will be noted that the cleaner blades 2| have the end corners of their working edges rounded slightly, as indicated at 24. This prevents any damage being done to the thread as it is inserted between the blades or as it may move from the hole ID at the inner end of the slot, upwardly into position between the cleaner blades. In addition each longitudinal corner of the working edge of each blade 2| is beveled slightly, as indicated at 25, and this beveled corner at each blade is illustrated in exaggerated form in Fig. 4. By forming the cleaning blades in this manner, they may be adjusted so as to leave a space or slot of sufficient width only to permit the thread to pass smoothly between the blades so that the oil or other material adhering to the thread, assuming the same to be rayon, or any other material which may adhere to threads or yarns of natural fibre, will be effectively cleaned off while at the same time the thread or yarn will not be damaged in any manner by passing over a sharply angled corner.

From the foregoing, it will be readily apparent that in the present device, by the use of the separate blades of precious or semi-precious stone either of natural or synthetic character which presents a high resistance to wear, there will be no change or alteration in the clearance between the blades even though the blades may be used over a relatively long period of time. Also, by the use of the separate blades, which may be adjusted, only one cleaner has to be used in association with each cone spindle, for all sizes of thread.

By the use of separate blades of hard material, waste of yarn is avoided, a more uniform thread or yarn is obtained, and there is assured a better and more uniform coning with constant yardage and weight for each cone. In the cleaning of rayon threads, if the slot through which the thread passes is not of uniform width throughout, there will not be a uniform cleaning of oil from the thread and, therefore, since the cones of thread are sold by weight, a certain weight cone being presumed to have a certain yardage of thread thereon, it will be readily apparent that a uniform yardage would not result as the cone would be short in this respect due to the added amount of oil which results in an increase in the weight.

It will also be readily apparent that with a cleaner of the type herein described, if it should become necessary for any reason to replace the blades, only these parts of the device would have to be changed whereas in cleaners of the type at present employed, if the thread slot becomes worn, the entire plate has to be discarded and replaced by a new one.

What is claimed is:

l. A thread cleaner for textile machines, comprising a vertically disposed plate having a longitudinally extending thread receiving slot formed therein from the upper edge thereof, a pair of cleaner blades formed of a material offering a high resistance to wear and arranged in edge to edge spaced relation adjacent one face of the plate with said spaced edges lying in the area between the sides of said slot, and securing means for each of said blades adjustably connected with said plate, the said securing means preventing the relative movement of the blades after the same have been set in a desired spaced relation, said securing means comprising a pair of plates each having a longitudinal edge flange engaging over a blade and pressing the latter against the adjacent slotted plate, said edge flanges being undercut whereby to permit of a flexing of the flange when the same is secured against the face of a blade. 7

2. A thread cleaner for textile machines, comprising a plate member adapted to be mounted on the machine and having a thread receiving slot opening through the upper end of the plate, said plate having one face provided with transverse recesses opening into said slot, a pair of holding plates each adapted to position in a recess, each of said holding plates having a longitudinal edge flange, the said edge flanges being in opposed relation, a pair of cleaner blades each interposed between a holding plate flange and the first-mentioned plate, said cleaner blades being arranged with adjacent edges overlying the thread slot, and securing screws passing loosely through the holding plates and engaging the first-mentioned plate and drawing the holding plate flanges into contact with the adjacent blades.

3. A thread cleaner for textile machines, com prising a body plate having a thread receiving slot opening through an edge thereof, a pair of plate members disposed against one face of said body plate and having spaced opposed edges between which said slot lies, a pair of cleaner blades disposed in spaced relation between and contacting the said spaced edges of the plate members, means for securing the said plate members against the said face of the body plate and facilitating relative adjustment of the plate members and the relative adjustment of the cleaner blades, and means carried by said plate members at the said edges of the same and extending over and pressing against the cleaner blades to press the blades against the body plate.

4. A thread cleaner for textile machines, comprising a body plate having a thread receiving slot opening through an edge thereof, a pair of plate members disposed against one face of said body plate and having spaced opposed edges between which said slot lies, a pair of cleaner blades disposed in spaced relation between and contacting the said spaced edges of the plate members, means for securing the said plate members against the said face of, the body plate and facilitating their relative adjustment and the relative adjustment of the cleaner blades, and yieldable means carried by said plate members at the said edges thereof and extending over and yieldably bearing against said blades to press the blades against the face of the plate body.

MAX DURAFFOURG. 

